EMMETT, Idaho — The historic downtown Emmett strip is a place many say has seen better days. A number of vacant storefronts make Main Street a ghost town. I looked into the city's attempts to rejuvenate the downtown core.
"People love Emmett. They think it's charming and wonderful, but unfortunately, the downtown area is really lacking," said local Christine Fields.
Most days of the week, walking down Main Street in Emmett is pretty quiet, some say eerily quiet.
Fields continued, "I've been here for 28 years, and I've seen downtown Emmett go through several evolutions."
The area, once bustling with business, is now lined with locked doors and vacant storefronts. Many blame Covid. But some business owners blame Kristian Eide, a property owner who bought several downtown buildings in an auction in 2018. Eide and his brother control Huckleberry Properties Idaho LLC and part ownership in Scandinavian designs.
Many business owners I spoke with wished to remain anonymous. But one thing they all expressed was that the vision Eide laid out for the future of Emmett never happened.
"He indicated that we would have a Scandinavian store here like the one he has in Boise, but it never came to fruition. I suspect it's due to Covid," shrugged Mayor Gordon Petrie.
Other business owners tell me it's been impossible to get in touch with Eide, making it difficult for prospective businesses to get started in his buildings and for current leasers to get help with repairs. One said, "He has single-handedly crippled the economy of downtown Emmett."
So I talked to Mayor Petrie who says the city and county are coming together to address the hole that is their downtown.
"We have already contacted the entity that helped Caldwell with Indian Creek. We are going to come up with a comprehensive plan that could involve utilizing the urban development statutes properly, and at the appropriate time, if we need to bring it to the voters, we will do that," explained the Mayor.
To try and get both sides of the story, I reached out to Eide, but his mailbox was full. So I called Huckleberry Properties, who got me connected with the landlord. Eide tells me they plan to remodel the properties with a "do it once and do it right" mentality but have been "waiting for the market to cool down."
Eide acknowledged some needed repairs. He tells me they haven't raised rent once since they bought the buildings six years ago, and if they made the requested maintenance repairs, it'd likely result in raising rent significantly, which he says may force current tenants out and usher in new businesses willing to pay more.
Mayor Petrie says once a plan is set in place, the city and county will work with Eide to start looking at options to fill the vacancies.
"These are historic buildings that could be beautifully updated," said Fields.
Petrie finished by saying, "Make this the kind of downtown that is pedestrian friendly, and people want to come down here on a regular basis."
